Improvement in mail-bag fasteners



T. M. CUNNINGHAM. Mail-Bag Fastener No. 215,331. Patented May13, T87 9.

WITNESSES INVENTOR BY {did Mada I ATTORNEYS;

".PEI'ERS. FHDIO-LI'I'HOGRIPHER. WASHINGTON. D. C:

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS M. CUNNINGHAM, 0F NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE.

IMPROVEMENT IN MAlL- BAG FASTENERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 215,331, dated May 13, 1879; application filed 7 November 14, 1878.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS M. CUNNING- HAM, of Nashville, in the county of Davidson and State of Tennessee, have invented a new and Improved Mail-Bag Fastener, of which the following is a specification.

The object of this invention is to furnish a secure and easily-applied fastener for mailbags carrying third and fourth class matter. It consists of a fork, to which the rope is attached after being reeved through the mouth of the bag, so as to leave a looped end, which,

fork, like a clothes-pin, having at the solid end two holes, b b, and at the forked end a transverse mortise. a. The two ends of the rope O are passed through holes b b, and one end passed through one half the folds in the mouth of the bag, While the other end is passed through the other half, and where they meet they are tied, as at c.

The manner of closing the bag is as follows: After the mail-matter is put in the bag the looped end of the rope is drawn out through the fastener, which is pressed against the mouth, and the folds are drawn against it, thus closing the mouth of the bag closely, as shown in Fig. 1, and when it is as tight as it can be drawn the free part of the rope out-of the fastener is carried over the fastener and woundaround it back and forth, as at d. Every time it is Wound over it is carried through the fork, as shown at e, and when it has been thus wound as tightly as may be necessary the looped end is carried through the mortise a, as shown atf. This fastens the mouth of the bag together closely and securely, and the end of the rope is held so that it cannot possibly get loose.

Having thus fully described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- As an improvement in fasteners for mailbags, the bifurcated fastener B, with holes I) b and transverse mortise a,.in combination with rope O and the mouth of the bag, substantially as described.

THOMAS M. CUNNINGHAM.

Witnesses:

O. SEDGWICK, ALEX. F. ROBERTS. 

